Teva's Stock Inches Higher Amid Cost-Cutting Plan

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) TEVA, the troubled Israel-based generic and specialty medicines developer, confirmed with Bloomberg a plan to lower expenses and better manage its debt.

A Bloomberg report cited Israeli-based news sources Calcalist, which initially reported Teva would cut as many as 6 thousand jobs, accounting for 11 percent of its global workforce. But a company spokesperson confirmed with Bloomberg that this figure is not accurate.

The spokesperson did confirm Teva will cease recruiting plans for new employees and won't be replacing employees leaving the company. The report helped boost Teva's stock higher by just shy of 1 percent early Thursday at $32.90, but the stock continues to flirt with a multi-year low of $31.90.

$40.5 Billion Acquisition

Teva's $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan plc Ordinary Shares AGN riddled the company with debt. In addition, Bloomberg noted the transaction came at a time when cheap copycat drugs started falling and competition for Teva's top-selling branded medicines rose.

Meanwhile, Teva continues to search for a new CEO after Erez Vigodman resigned last month. The incoming CEO will certainly have his hands full and has to deal with Teva's debt load, which stood at $35.8 billion as of the end of 2016. Perhaps the bigger concern is the fact that as of Thursday's morning, Teva's market share stood at $32.52 billion.

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Is Teva's 4% Dividend Yield Safe? ________ Image Credit: By Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine - Own work, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons